Using HOB as CO2 diffuser

[isu712]

I'm going to be converting my fake-planted 20 gal to a planted 20 gal soon and I want anybody's opinions on this. It will be a med light (2x24 T5HO fixture) tank.

I've been doing some reading on DIY CO2 and I came across some discussions on using a HOB filter (specifically an AquaClear which is what I have) as a CO2 diffuser. They fed the CO2 tube into the intake tube on the filter and then used the pump to diffuse the CO2 into the water. Does this seem like it would work? Has anybody tried it with either this filter or a different one?

As a side note, I have had some people say that Flourish Excel would work as a carbon source for my situation, but I want to keep a corkscrew val and they have been known to melt when Excel is used.

 

[theotheragentm]

This won't work because the filter return disrupts the water's surface. Even if it put the CO2 into the water, the surface agitation would bring it right out of solution.

 

[isu712]

I guess that makes sense. I was hoping somebody might have gotten it to work, because it would be a real easy way around a diffuser. I guess I'm going to have to look into something else. I know there's several designs modeled around a pumphead and a cylinder so I'll look into those.